22mag or 22 hornet?

I went through this same decision process many years ago. So I listed the pros and cons of each.

* The 22 Hornet is more powerful, but it is not a powerhouse by any stretch of the imagination, it launches a 40 gr bullet at about 2400 fps. The 22 WMR will launch the same bullet at about 2100 fps. So not a great big advantage.

* 22 Hornet is way more expensive to shoot than a 22WMR (about $1/round vs 30 cents/round for the 22WMR), and harder to find than 22 WMR.

* 22 Hornet is a 150-200 yds cartridge. 22 WMR is a 150-200 yds cartridge.

* Neither is really a good varmint cartridge, although either can be lots of fun to shoot.

What I ended up doing was selling my 22 Hornet and buying a 22 WMR instead for the intermediate size animals. But in reality, I shoot 22LR or 223 for just about anything of appropriate size for the cartridges. Now (30-ish years later), I have been given a 22 Hornet and am wondering what to do with it (too expensive to shoot very much, and a real pain to reload).
 
I've used both, the .22 Magnum is poorer ballistically, to me, and also louder. The .22 Hornet is much flatter and I just prefer it.

I won't use either one of the cartridges on anything bigger than a groundhog unless it's a coyote.
 
Ill take the hornet of you hands Scorch!:D

If it were me Id go with the hornet. It packs enough umff to knock down medium game. On that note I reload so price is really negated.

My experience with 22wmr is not impressive. Does it have more smack then a 22lr? Yup, is it worth serious pursuit? Not in my opinion.
 
I don't have any use for a CF 22 anymore. I have a 22 mag that is awesome for doing what you do. I would not hesitate to use it on all but the hog's. I think about a Hornet quite a bit. Never owned one but a friend had several many years ago and I shot the tar out of them. We only shot cast bullet's from them. Huge problem with them, rimmed and really shallow shoulder and the thing's split case's on a regular basis. I'd still get one though and take it to a gunsmith and have a K Hornet reamer run in it. That would give me a shoulder worth head spacing on. Even if I did that though, I would not part with my 22 magnum.

I doubt a good cast bullet in a Hornet would bounce off a hog but, were it me hunting the hog, I'd prefer my mod 788 in 308 with the 180gr bullet I shoot in it. I suspect a hog is just a bit tuff to experiment on with very light cartridges.
 
.22 Hornet can be a quite successful hog round IF you can be in a position to safely place your shots accurately 100% of the time. For instance, sitting in an elevated stand overlooking a feeder. A .22 Hornet behind the ear will drop ANY size hog dead in its tracks
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no shot is ever 100%

it probably works but why be undergunned on purpose?

what about the time you just greze them or blow their snot off?

now you gotta go down into the brush looking for that pissed of hog armed with a roided up 22lr
 
From an accuracy standpoint, I think the Hornet is by far the best choice. I have experimented with a lot of 22 mag brands and found lots of inconsistencies in them. You can stock up on one brand/lot number, and be okay until those run out and then you can start all over. With the Hornet you can load them yourself the same every time and outperform the heck out of a magnum.
I've killed hogs with a lot of calibers that other guys probably wouldn't even consider, as I go out nearly every day and take whatever gun seems to be close at hand and loaded. On one parcel of land I have killed 576 of them in the past 7 years....so I have a little experience from the hog killing perspective. I wouldn't think twice about shooting a hog with any .22 caliber if it was in a trap...but not from a distance....although I have killed a number of them using .223 fmj's.
 
Scorch said:
I went through this same decision process many years ago. So I listed the pros and cons of each.



* The 22 Hornet is more powerful, but it is not a powerhouse by any stretch of the imagination, it launches a 40 gr bullet at about 2400 fps. The 22 WMR will launch the same bullet at about 2100 fps. So not a great big advantage.



* 22 Hornet is way more expensive to shoot than a 22WMR (about $1/round vs 30 cents/round for the 22WMR), and harder to find than 22 WMR.



* 22 Hornet is a 150-200 yds cartridge. 22 WMR is a 150-200 yds cartridge.



* Neither is really a good varmint cartridge, although either can be lots of fun to shoot.



What I ended up doing was selling my 22 Hornet and buying a 22 WMR instead for the intermediate size animals. But in reality, I shoot 22LR or 223 for just about anything of appropriate size for the cartridges. Now (30-ish years later), I have been given a 22 Hornet and am wondering what to do with it (too expensive to shoot very much, and a real pain to reload).
Click to expand...



I'll have to disagree with a good deal of this. I own both the 22WMR and 22 Hornet.

22 Hornet factory ammo: 35gr Hornady V-Max is cruising at 3100fps. 45g Hornady SP is 2665fps.

22WMR factory ammo: 45gr Hornady is only 1700fps and that's from a 24", which most are shorter, and that's 965fps slower than the Hornet with the same weight bullet. 30gr Hornady V-Max is only 2200fps, still 465fps slower than the Hornet with a 5gr lighter bullet.

Simple fact is the Hornet is a good bit faster than the WMR with comparable bullet weights, which translates to more energy being delivered on target at the same distances.

Is the Hornet "way" more expensive than the WMR like this member claims? Ammo deals website search found the cheapest WMR ammo at $0.20/round. Cheapest Hornet ammo is $0.40/round. So this members statement of $1/round for Hornet ammo is WAY off. True, that Hornet ammo is actually exactly twice as expensive as WMR ammo. So unless you're a reloader, then WMR will always be more expensive. But if you reload, then you will quickly surpass the difference in price and then the Hornet will actually be cheaper than the WMR!

This member says neither are good varmint calibers. I think that's simply absurd! The Hornet has been a great varmint caliber for 87 years now with no signs of slowing. The WMR for about half as long, but still being a great varmint round at closer distances.

My opinion is that both guns have their place. There for a while, WMR ammo was impossible to find, right around the time of the 22LR ammo scare. Hornet ammo supply did not change really at all.

I use my WMR as a truck/atv/utv rifle when I'm running around my property. It's a Ruger American with a synthetic stock and a threaded barrel. I screw my suppressor on it for dispatching just about anything I see on my property that I don't like. Raccoons, possums, skunks, and crows. It's light, handy, and quiet with the suppressor.

My Hornet is a CZ 527 with gorgeous wood. I like to use it for target shooting due to the set trigger. It's scary how accurate it is. I plan on keeping it for my son to use for his first deer. I've got a couple friends that use a Hornet and those Hornady 45gr soft point bullets for taking meat deer every year. They swear by a Hornet soft point to the neck inside 125 yards.
 
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Seems that many of us have considered these caliber options. I reload, so the 22 Mag was not what I wanted. That left me with the Hornet, the 221 Fireball, and the 223. I went with the 223. Sometimes I think I should have gone with the 221 Fireball.
 
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